Yankees fans will love Varitek family’s reaction to Andrew Benintendi trade

The Yankees haven’t made a move in weeks, eating $600,000 just to cut Ben Heller and welcome Darren O’Day aboard. Kind of wasteful.

So, how about some Red Sox tears for a distraction? Those are always equally delicious.

Boston knocked Trevor Bauer off the back page on Wednesday night, trading Andrew Benintendi to the Royals in a three-way deal weeks after trade talks had been raised from a simmer to a boil, then cooled off again.

False alarm on that slowdown! The Red Sox were intent on trading Benintendi all along, one of their three Killer Bs in the 2018 World Champion outfield, which has now been reduced to maybe one bee, though Jackie Bradley Jr. appeared to post a farewell Wednesday night, too.

So, what’s next for the Red Sox? Who else is gone in the name of saving a few dollars and approximating 75% of production while anonymizing the roster for the average fan? Catherine Varitek, take it away!

https://twitter.com/CatherinVaritek/status/1359867063716765698?s=20

You hate to see the children of a blessed generation completely disillusioned like this. You truly hate to see it.

Yankees fans would never celebrate shipping away a 26-year-old star.

Obviously, it would be far more satisfying to watch Boston’s adults feel any form of remorse, but of course they’ll instead line up and defend this indefensible moves. See, fans should want to root for the players they love. Mookie Betts and Benintendi should have been Red Sox for 20 years, each hoisting several trophies in their wake. Nope. Boston has decided to rip down the foundation, and fans have lined up to make excuses.

When Betts headed out the door, he apparently never wanted to be in Boston anyway — every fan suddenly professed to have been a fly on the wall in extension talks. When Benintendi left on Wednesday, lots of revisionist history propped up claiming he’d always been a problem. He was a bad base runner, you see. A disappointing No. 1 prospect. Couldn’t win with him. Good riddance.

In many ways, Benintendi was the literal face of the 2018 Red Sox. How often have you seen this photograph over the past two years?

And yes, it’s only been two years. That’s a length of time during which top-flight outfields should be kept together at all costs — especially if the costs are all manageable.

When you’re winning in Boston, sports are everything. When you’re losing, eh, we never cared anyway. You’re pathetic for caring. But don’t let us get hot.

We hope Alex Verdugo shines in 2021 so Chaim Bloom can start working on trading him for a couple Alex Verdugo knockoffs. And if Jason Varitek ever wants to be a bench coach on a team that prioritizes winning while reloading, he knows who to call.

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